ECC-led robotics team, Team D4C, was awarded first place in two of four events—Vegetation Removal and Surface Ordnance Removal—during the 2011 Robotic Range Clearance Competition (R2C2) at Camp Guernsey, Wyoming.

Held by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, US Air Force, and US Army, the competition aimed to encourage robotic technology innovations from leaders in the industry. The competition was broken into four categories: automated vegetation clearance, surface debris clearance, geophysical mapping, and subsurface anomaly excavation.

“Robotic range clearance is the way of the future, and Team D4C has made great strides in developing a field-ready system,” commented ECC’s President & CEO, Manjiv S. Vohra, PE, DBIA. “ECC’s culture of safety, combined with our innovative and technological spirit, lends itself to this type of competition. Our Munitions Response Division (MRD) team is continually seeking ways to make their job safer for everyone through technology.”

Range clearance activities are typically characterized as dangerous and labor intensive. Using robotically controlled equipment, the team was able to perform this work without putting technicians in the field, significantly improving safety while cutting costs.